ISPA Internet Exchange Point Policy (OLD)

The policies below were formally ratified by ISPA’s Management Committee on 2009-11-02.

Basic principles

1. ISPA is responsible for the administration of the INXes and determines policies relating to the INXes.

2. The host provides resources essential to the operation of the INX facilities, including power, air-conditioning and secure access to the site. The host also maintains the switches at each INX. Both JINX and CINX are currently hosted by Internet Solutions.

3. Each INX user is responsible for obtaining one or more links to the INX facilities, and for all costs associated with those links. INX users are also responsible for supplying any equipment, such as routers, they require to connect their networks to the INX switches.

Fees

4. There are no joining fee for the INXes.

5. A monthly hosting benefit fee of R40,000 (excl. VAT) applies to the host of JINX, and a monthly hosting benefit fee of R30,000 (excl. VAT) will apply to the host of CINX. The amount must be paid by the host and will be a condition of any hosting agreement for each INX. (Hosting benefit fees for any future exchanges will be determined as additional exchanges are established.) Port charges, as set out below, apply to the host in addition to the hosting benefit fee.

6. Monthly port charges apply to connections to the INXes. These charges depend on the speed of each port used by an ISP. The port charges will be reviewed on an annual basis by the INX working group.

7. If an ISP uses more than one port, then a 30% discount will apply to each additional port, with the highest speed port always considered to be the primary port. This applies per exchange, so the primary port at each exchange incurs the full fee.

8. For ISPA members, there is a minimum membership requirement for access to some ports. For access to 10 Gbps and 1 Gbps ports, ISPs must be Large ISPA members. For access to 100 Mbps ports, ISPs must be either Medium or Large ISPA members. There is no minimum requirements for access to 10 Mbps ports; Small, Medium and Large ISPA members can all use 10 Mbps ports.

9. For the purposes of the minimum membership requirements above, Honorary ISPA members are considered to be Large ISPA members. Affiliate ISPA members are considered to be Small ISPA members.

10. ISPA members pay port charges as shown below:

Port charges for ISPA members (excl. VAT)

Port speed

Minimum membership

Primary port

Additional ports

10 Gbps

Large

R 3,320.00

R 2,325.00

1 Gbps

Large

R 1,660.00

R 1,160.00

100 Mbps

Medium

R 830.00

R 580.00

10 Mbps

Small

R 415.00

R 290.00

11. Non-members of ISPA may connect to ISPA’s INXes, and pay port charges as shown below:

Port charges for non-ISPA members (excl. VAT)

Port speed

Primary port

Additional ports

10 Gbps

R 9,420.00

R 2,325.00

1 Gbps

R 7,760.00

R 1,160.00

100 Mbps

R 2,330.00

R 580.00

10 Mbps

Not available

R 290.00

12. The port fees may be waived for ports used for hosted services (such as DNS servers) located at an INX. The INX working group remains responsible for determining which services it is appropriate to have hosted at the INXes, and when port fees should be waived.

Requirement to exchange traffic via the INX switch fabric

13. With the exception noted, all interconnection at each INX must take place via the INX switch fabric. This means that within each INX cage there may be no peer-to-peer interconnection, and all traffic exchanged must be via the switch.

14. The above policy does not apply to any ISP paying the 10 Gbps port charge; this gives that ISP the right to interconnect privately. An INX user is welcome to pay the 10 Gbps port charge to gain this benefit, but make use of a lower speed port on the switch.

15. The INX working group retains the right to grant additional exceptions to the above clause, where technically necessary. (The specific example was put forward of voice traffic exchanged via SS7. The JINX switch does not support this, and it would have to bypass the switch.)

Rack space

16. The monthly port charge gives that INX user the right to use a maximum amount of rack space depending on the primary port used, as indicated below. ISPA reserves the right to impose additional charges for ISPs using more than this, with appropriate fees to be determined by the INX working group.

Primary port speed

Maximum rack space

10 Gbps

8U

1 Gbps

6U

100 Mbps

4U

10 Mbps

2U

17. The above rack space allocation includes any telco infrastructure associated with an INX user.

18. All equipment hosted at the INXes must be rack-mounted. ISPA reserves the right to disconnect any equipment which is not rack-mounted. The INX working group may grant exceptions to this rule on case-by-case basis.

Cabling

19. The INX host will provide all ethernet patch cabling for the INX facilities. ISPA members may not supply their own ethernet cabling. ISPA members are, however, responsible for their own power cables. These rules are subject to the discretion of the INX host.

20. The host may levy a cabling fee of R1200 (excl. VAT) per port used for connections into the JINX and CINX facilities. This fee is for the cabling between the host’s meet-me room and the INX environment and is a per-cable installation fee, and not a recurring cost.

Participants’ interconnection policies

21. A connection to an INX is not the same as interconnection with other organisations using that INX. ISPA does not require INX users to interconnect with all other INX users. Each organisation connecting to an INX is free to establish its own policy for interconnection. It is up to each user of an INX to negotiate interconnection agreements with the other INX users.

22. Each INX user must provide ISPA with a clear policy for interconnection with other INX users and must notify ISPA of any changes to this policy. If an INX user fails to provide ISPA with a clear policy for interconnection with other INX users, then they agree to exchange traffic with all other INX users on a no-charge basis.

23. In cases where disputes arise between members regarding interconnection policy, if both members agree, ISPA will play a mediation role.

Hosting of servers

24. No servers or other non-standard equipment may be hosted at JINX without the explicit permission of the INX working group. Any requests to host third party equipment (e.g. monitoring devices) will be dealt with by the INX working group on a case-by-case basis.

SNMP access

25. No ISPA member may have access to the community string for the INX switches unless cleared to do so by the INX working group.

Insurance

26. Members are responsible for the insurance of their own equipment.

Liability for outages

27. ISPA members using the INXes cannot hold ISPA or other INX users liable for network outages of any kind.

Non-compliance

28. ISPA reserves the right to terminate any INX user’s access to an INX for non-compliance with ISPA’s INX policies.

Changes to this policy

29. ISPA reserves the right to make changes to its INX policies, following due consultation with ISPA members.